First Robe GigaPointes Rock Southeastern Europe at Jakov Jozinovic Zagreb Shows

	The general aesthetic goal for these shows was to create something original and memorable. "It needed to be grand and spectacular, but not tacky or pompous," Kucinic says. Photo: Mario Poje, Jurica Cvitanic, and Sven Kucinic

Mojo Rental Southeast Europe from Croatia was the first company in the Balkans to invest in Robe's new GigaPointe laser-phosphor source multipurpose luminaire, purchasing 24 fixtures. These were delivered to the load-in of two massive shows at Zagreb Arena for the Croan singer Jakov Jozinovic.

The GigaPointes were at the heart of a lighting and stage design by Sven Kucinic from LumiLas LLC. He also used 173 other Robe products on the rig.

Due to last-minute changes in the production requirements, the lighting rig for the 360-degree show was fully reimagined in just six days before the show. Kucinic rose to the occasion and created a highly multidimensional interactive environment to connect Jozinovic with his fans.

In addition to the GigaPointes, the design featured 32 Robe FORTES, 32 CycFX 8s, 16 PAINTES, 24 LedPOINTES, 32 Spiiders and 32 Tetra2s. Four Robe BMFL WashBeams were the followspots, ensconced high up at the back of the audience bleachers. They were manually operated using Robe's LightMaster side handle kits, with pan and tilt controlled by the operators and all other parameters run from the lighting console.

The rectangular stage, with thrusts emanating from the two short sides, was positioned in the middle of the arena; above it was a rectangular video cube with screens on four sides, primarily dedicated to an IMAG mix.

Kucinic made the GigaPointes made them central to the design, using them for everything apart from key lighting, and especially for all the large-scale looks, plus an array of effects.

"It's always exciting to use a new product," he says, adding that for several years MegaPointes had been a go-to for most of his creative projects. He ended up using ten MegaPointes as support to extend the high beam concept.

The GigaPointes were positioned on trusses above the long side of the video cube in positions giving the highest (16m) and longest throws, creating aerial effects. The MegaPointes were rigged on trusses in corresponding positions along the short side of the video rectangle.

"They are a solid next-gen all-purpose fixture," he says of the GigaPointes. He also appreciates the interchangeability and the way GigaPointes worked with MegaPointes and the other Robe fixtures.

A laser fan, Kucinic likes "the way you can make GigaPointes really emulate laser effects when needed. They are also the only laser source I've encountered to date that look like an LED light when in spot mode, which is impressive engineering."

He appreciated that the GDTF file for GigaPointes was already made available by Robe, making his pre-viz work much easier.

The initial versions of the design were produced months in advance using Capture and based on MegaPointes, as at that stage, no one could exactly pinpoint the GigaPointe delivery date.

The 32 FORTES were hung just below the video cube on a trussing grid formation. Running gobos and texturing on the stage with them seamlessly blended with the floor's video effects. Kucinic also used the FORTES to shroud the stage in intense light combined with smoke for a dramatic entrance effect, as Jozinovic popped up from the center on a lift.

The Tetra2s framed the edges of the stage; their low-profile fixtures preserving sightlines. The CycFX 8s were used in mirroring positions on the trusses over the stage. Also on the floor were the 24 LedPOINTES, again picked for their compact size and minimal impact on sightlines.

The 16 PAINTES were his key lighting, rigged, together with the Spiiders, on four trusses further out from the video cube. These were ideal positions for lighting the band and Jozinovic, and for the Spiiders to bathe the audience in rich and sumptuous colours. He says the Spiiders' "colors, zoom, calibration, etc. are currently still unmatched." In addition to lighting the fans, he used Spiiders for additional beam effects, working in conjunction with the GigaPointes.

The general aesthetic goal for these shows was to create something original and memorable. "It needed to be grand and spectacular, but not tacky or pompous," he says.

Kucinic thanks the Mojo Rental Southeast Europe team for helping make this happen in such a pressurised time window, and especially to his lighting crew chief, Sven Grbec "Maci", who coordinated prepping all the Robe gear.

In addition to these Robe lights, some strobes, two-lights, and around 30,000 LED bracelets (over the two nights) were also programmed via Kucnic's lighting console.